Principal Data Engineer at Robert Half

DescriptionPosition: Principal Data Engineer | Direct Hire PermanentLocation: RemoteSalary: $225,000 - 300,000 base plus bonus potential*** For immediate and confidential consideration, please send a message to MEREDITH CARLE on LinkedIn or send an email to me with your resume. My email can be found on my LinkedIn page. ***Build the data foundation that powers analytics, AI, and enterprise decision-making.We’re hiring a Principal Data Engineer to design and deliver a modern, scalable data platform from the ground up. This is a high-impact, hands-on role where you’ll lead architecture decisions, build production-grade pipelines, and enable secure, multi-tenant data capabilities that support everything from reporting to advanced AI use cases.What You’ll Own • Design and build a modern data platform across ingestion, transformation, storage, and consumption • Develop scalable batch and real-time pipelines across diverse data sources (relational, event, document) • Establish data architecture standards, modeling practices, and engineering frameworks • Create secure, multi-tenant data environments with strong governance and access controls • Build data models and serving layers for reporting, self-service analytics, and AI workloads • Evaluate and implement cloud data technologies for performance, cost, and scalability • Partner with engineering and business leaders to align data strategy with company priorities • Guide vendors and external partners while enforcing internal data standards and qualityWhat You Bring • 10+ years of experience in data engineering, including large-scale architecture ownership • Strong programming skills in Python and experience with tools like Spark, Kafka, or similar • Expertise building batch and streaming pipelines in cloud environments (AWS preferred) • Deep knowledge of data modeling for both transactional and analytical systems • Hands-on experience with Snowflake, Redshift, or modern data platforms • Strong understanding of data governance, privacy, and secure data design • Experience with ETL frameworks, testing, and CI/CD-driven data workflows • Ability to clearly communicate technical strategy and tradeoffs to senior stakeholdersWhy This Role • Architect and build a next-generation data platform from foundational level • Direct impact on analytics, product insights, and AI capabilities • High ownership, visibility, and influence across engineering and leadership • Opportunity to define standards, tooling, and long-term data strategyIf you’re a hands-on data engineer who enjoys building scalable platforms and shaping how data is leveraged across an organization, this is a high-impact opportunity to lead from the front.RequirementsApache Spark, Python, Apache Hadoop, Apache Kafka, ETL - Extract Transform Load, Data Architecture, Snowflake, Data Governance, Data Privacy, Strategic Recommendations, Strategic RoadmapsJob typePerm